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Cincinnati baseball standout Joey Wiemer hoping for the best with shortened MLB Draft

In an alternate universe without the novel coronavirus pandemic, University of Cincinnati outfielder Joey Wiemer would be preparing to play in the conference tournament this week and trying to help the Bearcats earn another bid to the NCAA Tournament.

He’d be nearing the end of his collegiate career as a lock to be picked within the first 10 rounds of the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft.

Everything was upended in March when the college baseball season was canceled. Then MLB shortened its draft from 40 rounds to five rounds. It was a series of tough news.

“It’s stressful,” Wiemer said. “It’s a stressful time, but I’m going to be prepared for whatever’s put on my plate."

Cincinnati's Joey Wiemer in action during an NCAA college baseball game against Wichita State, Sunday, April 28, 2019, in Cincinnati.(Photo: Aaron Doster, AP)

There will be 160 players picked in next month’s draft, well below the 1,217 who were selected last year. Wiemer, UC’s best baseball prospect since Ian Happ, is a borderline candidate to be picked in the condensed draft.

Wiemer, listed at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, is ranked No. 130 in the draft class by Baseball America and No. 168 by MLB.com. He impressed in the Cape Cod League last summer with a .273 batting average and .390 on-base percentage in the prestigious wood bat league.

“The Cape really, really did numbers for me,” he said. “I truly don’t know, without the Cape, where I’m at right now. I think that was just a huge blessing for me.”

What hurt Wiemer's draft stock is the lack of a breakout year at UC. In 15 games this season, usually too small a sample size, he had a .264 batting average with four doubles and one homer in 53 at-bats. He stole five bases in six attempts and produced a .435 on-base percentage, but scouts wanted to see more power this spring.

“Wiemer’s toolset is better than where he’s ranked, but the questions about his hit tool are significant,” Baseball America wrote in its scouting report.

Said Wiemer: “My carrying tool is just athleticism. I’ve got a lot of fine-tuning to do and I know I’m nowhere near my end product as a ballplayer, but I think it carries a lot of weight. I stand out a lot just as a pure athlete and I just hope to continue to develop that.”

Undrafted players can sign for a maximum bonus of $20,000. It’s a fraction of the typical signing bonus for most non-senior draftees. There were 30 players picked in the sixth round last year and 25 of them signed for $200,000 or more.

Wiemer hasn’t ruled out returning to UC, but it is a complicated roster crunch for coaching staffs around the country. Programs are allotted 11.7 scholarships, and the NCAA granted an additional year of eligibility to seniors who had their spring seasons canceled.

"If I get the opportunity to go play, that’s what I want to do with my life," Wiemer said. "I want to be a professional ballplayer. I’ll be more than excited to get out and start my career, but going back to a city I love and finishing out my degree, that doesn’t sound terrible to me either.

“It’s really just picking between one of the two. Whatever happens, happens. I’m ready to compete either way.”

The Bearcats were about 10 minutes from boarding a plane to travel for a three-game series against Kansas when their season was halted in March. Players knew a disruption to their season was possible when NCAA basketball games were being canceled before playing conference tournaments.

“We were just sitting there,” Wiemer said. “We got through security. We were all set and ready to go. Then you look out the window and they are pulling our stuff off the plane. It was like, ‘We’re probably not going.’

"It sucks not getting to defend ourselves and prove that again this year. Especially with some of the seniors, you don’t get to go out the right way with them and that’s terrible. But there is nothing we can do about it."

Despite the uncertainty, Wiemer is trying to take it all in stride. He's talking to teams over the phone and through Zoom as a part of the pre-draft process. Sure, it'll be a waiting game when the draft begins on June 10, but he's aiming to reach his childhood dream.

Wiemer returned to his home in Temperance, Michigan, once UC students were told to leave campus. A couple of his friends and himself set up a makeshift gym by combining the weights they had at their own homes. He makes a 40-minute drive to Ann Arbor to hit with Michigan baseball standout Jordan Nwogu, another player in the draft class.

“He’s another guy in the class who is someone I can learn from as a hitter right now,” Wiemer said of Nwogu. “He’s really got it all figured out, so it’s nice hitting with him and getting to hear him talk about some stuff.”